Fred Couples continued his amazing run Sunday, prevailing in four playoff holes over Tiger Woods to claim the final three skins and US$340,000, and win his fifth Skins Game with a total of US$640,000.
Couples won all his money on Sunday, starting with a birdie putt worth US$300,000 and eight skins on the first hole. He finally won the tournament after Woods' tee shot went into the water on the last playoff hole, the par-3, 204-yard 17th at Trilogy Golf Club on a cold, windy day in the desert.
PHOTO: AP
Although the Silly Season tournament turned serious -- Woods hit the ground with an iron and both players looked tight after missing putts that would have won it -- Couples and Woods jokingly walked arm-in-arm down the final fairway.
All Couples had to do to win it was two-putt.
Couples, 45, has won a record US$3.515 million and 77 skins in 11 appearances in the tournament.
Woods finished second with five skins and US$310,000, more money than he won in his previous four Skins Games combined.
After making a sensational Skins Game debut last year, Annika Sorenstam was shut out this time. She and Australia Adam Scott were eliminated on the first playoff hole. Scott won two skins and US$50,000 on Saturday, when the first nine holes were played. No one else collected money on Day 1.
Woods' best chance to win the playoff came on the second extra hole, the 17th, when he followed a great tee shot by rolling a 10-foot birdie putt just left of the cup.
Woods struggled with his putter the whole weekend.
On the third extra hole, the par-5, 524-yard 18th, Woods left his 15-foot birdie putt short and Couples rolled his 12-footer left. Both players looked tense. A few minutes earlier, Woods angrily hit the ground with his iron after his shot from the left rough stayed left and landed in the rough just in front of the green.
Back on the 17th tee for the fourth playoff hole, Woods pushed his shot left and into the lake on the left side of the fairway. Couples played it safe for the win.
Couples won last year's Merrill Lynch Skins Game in a four-hole playoff.
He jumped to a quick lead this time on Sunday's first hole, the par-4, 446-yard 10th, by curling in a 27-foot birdie putt worth US$300,000. Of that, US$250,000 was a carryover from Saturday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite